Staff at the Regional Transportation District evaluated Kiewit’s bid, submitted March 8, “and has found it worthy of moving forward to a competitive procurement process,” RTD said in a press release Wednesday.

Later this spring, RTD will ask for competing bids from other companies via a formal request for proposals. Kiewit and any other interested firms would then have the opportunity to submit a detailed proposal.

Kiewit’s proposal tackles about nine miles of the I-225 rail line, which currently has a 10.5 mile gap between South Parker Road and Interstate 70 in Aurora. The route runs near the fast-growing Anschutz Medical Campus.

A light rail line currently runs along I-225 between Interstate 25 and Parker Road. Another rail line is planned along I-70.

“We are happy to see that the concept central to the proposal has merit,” Lee Kemp, RTD board chair, said in the release. “It demonstrates that industry partners have solid, feasible ideas on how to complete FasTracks projects sooner rather than later.”

Over the past year, RTD has publicized the agency’s desire to seek out innovations to complete the FasTracks program as soon as possible and reduce the cost of RTD operations.

RTD’s FasTracks program needs more money — or companies willing to finance construction and be repaid over time — for the sprawling rail construction project to be completed within the next decade.

Initial construction work for the first segment of the I-225 line from Parker Road to Iliff will begin soon under contract through a partnership with Colorado Department of Transportation, RTD said.

Kiewit Infrastructure, a division of Omaha, Neb.-based Kiewit Corp., led the design-build construction team on the Transportation Expansion (T-REX) project on I-25 and is constructing the transit improvements at Denver Union Station, which are more than 50 percent complete.

This is the second unsolicited proposal RTD has received from companies offering to build segments of FasTracks.

RTD received a proposal in September from North Metro Constructors, a team led by global engineering firm Fluor Corp., based in Irving, Texas, and Balfour Beatty Rail Inc., a rail construction and maintenance company based in Atlanta. That team proposed building the $904 million North rail corridor.

FasTracks is RTD’s voter-approved transit expansion program to build 122 miles of commuter rail and light rail, 18 miles of bus rapid transit service, add 21,000 new parking spaces, redevelop Denver Union Station and redirect bus service to better connect the eight-county district.

This article draws on reporting by the DBJ’s Cathy Proctor.

Heather Draper covers banking, finance, law and sports business for the Denver Business Journal and writes for the "Finance Etc." blog. Phone: 303-803-9230.

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